The present invention is related to wireless data transfer operations and, in particular, to a remote control device with a graphical user interface for controlling various audio/video devices interconnected in a multimedia system in a user-friendly manner.
It is well known how difficult it is to control today's multifunctional and very complex multimedia components. New technological advances, partially driven by consumer demand for new high-tech equipment, spawn more complicated components than ever, such as a 200 compact disk (CD) changer, integrated television/video cassette recorder (TV/VCR), digital audio tape (DAT) device, digital video disk (DVD) device, etc. Each of these devices perform a myriad of functions that may or may not be important to the user, but are certainly available for him to try. To control each device, a remote control unit is provided, sometimes offering all of the functions that can be performed manually, that is without the remote control, by activating switches, buttons, etc. located on the remote control unit. The ubiquitous "12:00" still blinking on many VCRs in peoples' homes still attest to the difficulty of controlling the audio/video components.
For each new multimedia device that becomes a part of the user multimedia system, the user has to study the operations manual of that device to determine what function a particular button on the remote control unit performs. Since conventional remote control units offer only limited space on their surfaces, all of the buttons (switches) located on the remote control unit are cryptically labeled that sometimes require the user to impersonate Sherlock Holmes to decipher their function. Simply looking at the remote control unit is not sufficient to guess as to what the activation of the button entails. Trial and error method of activating a function to find out what it does may not be only frustrating but also perilous as the user may accidentally erase, delete, etc. some information in a storage medium and/or stop the operation of the device without knowing how to return to its normal operation. This "experimentation" may occur at a very inopportune moment causing further frustration and requiring the user to study the operations manual or to abort the operation of the component.
Different manufacturers of system components typically have incompatible remote control units. Thus, even though the remote control unit from one manufacturer is capable of controlling several components, it is so as long as these components are made by the same manufacturer. If, for example, a TV is made by one manufacturer while a DAT is made by another manufacturer, the fact that the remote control unit of the TV is capable of controlling a DAT is of little help because the DAT owned by the user is made by a different manufacturer and cannot be controlled by the remote control unit assigned to the TV.
A conventional so-called universal remote control unit which, as known in the art, combines controlling functions of several components does not alleviate the problem associated with numerous individual remote control units associated with the multimedia components. The conventional universal remote control unit has a limited surface space and is designed to accommodate the most important (basic) functions of the components which it is designed to control. Thus, the user has to either give up those additional features of the components or study the operations manual for each component and control those additional functions manually by activating the appropriate switches, etc. located on the audio/video components.
In any event, it is inconvenient and time consuming for the user to study the operations manual and juggle several remote control units when controlling devices in his multimedia system.
A need therefore exists for a system and method for overcoming the above disadvantages.